Homebrewers Association | AHA Forum

OK, starting to get a better idea of what I'll be doing for my first brew (partial boil of 2.5 gallons) and I'm reading online that people using a gas stove can sometimes not get the water to boil, or it can take up to an hour for this. Has this been anyone's experience with this amount of water? I would like to stay indoors at this point, but if it will take that long, maybe I'll have to reconsider the propane burner route. Thanks!

I have brewed outside for many years, but when I started, I used a gas stove. The good thing about my kettle at the time was that it was wider and shorter, so it could literally straddle 2 burners ( it was an 8 gallon canning pot). So it would come to a boil in about 1/2 an hour or less. Obviously doing partial wort boils your pot would not be big enough to do that. Well hang in there until you can get a bigger pot. You'll be glad you did. Better hop utilization, less darkening, better overall beer. You'll get there.

Having said all that, it seems like 2.5 gallons should boil quicker than that. Check temps and keep the lid on in between checks until you get within 5 or10 degrees of boiling , then keep the lid off to avoid a big boilover. Shouldn't take that long. Good luck!

Straddling works if the pot fits... And once at a boil you might not need both burners going full blast so you can monkey with that. Natural gas is preferable imo because it is cheap and will perform better than an electric range. However, I think electric is a better overall choice in regards to expense and efficiency if applied correctly.

I typically boil 13+ gallons on my NG stove- and it is a basic model. It heats up 16+ gallons to mash temp fairly easily with the lid on. Man, that built in thermometer has saved me a couple nasty burns. wish I had installed it sooner!